Automobile-signal.



W. A. & F. W. FALCK.

AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED AUG. I5, I9I4. RENEWED JUNE 27, 19!? I 1 ,236,830. Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

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' Application filed August 15, 1914, Serial No. 856,999. Renewed June 27',

wnmnman A. FALCK AND rnrrz w. FALCK, TO LAURA e. rrxnn, 0

015' LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS I CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMOBILE-SIGNAL.

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that we, W'ALDEMAR A. FALCK and Fnrrz W. Fanomcitizens of the United States, residing at Los An eles, in the county of Los Angeles', State of alifornia, have 1nvented new and useful Improvements in Au,- tomobile-Signals, of which the following isa specification.

This inventionrelates to an automobile signal or the like; and the prlmary ob ect of the invention is the provision of a simple signal mechanism which. will eificiently in-- dicate the intendedmovements of an automobile or other vehicle. We explain our vention in particular connection with veicles; but it will be apparent that our device is not limited tothis particular use, but may be used in other situations.

In its fundamentals, ourv device comprises a casing with a source of illumination and with a pair of windows at right and left respectively, and a movable vane behind'the windows illuminated from-said source and adapted to be movedinto position behind either of the windows, the vane being preferably normally behind an-intermediate solid portion of the casing wall. In the preferred form of our invention we arrange the two windows about, and extending radially from, a common center; and the vane is mounted also upon this common center and has a transparent body of distinctive color, say red, through which the light from said source is transmitted through either one or the other of the windows. This vane may be moved in any desired manner, by any suitable mechanism; but we prefer to use an electro magnetic mechanism including an armature mounted upon .the vane to swing about a pivot and suitable electro-magnets for attracting the armature in either direction of movement about the pivot.

Other features and advantages of our in vention are explained in thefollowing specification; and we have shown our preferred form of device in the accompanying drawingis, in which:

igure 1 is a rear proved signal. I

Fig. 2 1s a View showing the same with the face of the casing removed.

- Fig. 3 is a perspective showing our signal as it appears m use.

In the drawings the numeral 10 may designate a suitable casing which is preferably in the form of a sector arranged about the elevation of our im Specification-o! Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

1917. S ei'ia1 1i'o.177,406.

common pivotal center 1l,'and acircular portion 10 at the bottom part of the sector portion of the .casing. In the rear wall of the casing 10 we provide a pair of win- 'dows 12, which preferably have clear glasses 13, these windows being separated by a solid portion 14 of the casing between them. The

windows 13 are preferably also in sector shape arranged radially about a common pivotal center 11, one at the right and the other at the left. v

Within the casing we mount a'suitable source of illumination,,preferably an electric light. lamp- 15, the lamp being located centrally behind the solid casing portion 14-. between the two windows 12. A vane 16 is pivoted at the common pivotal center 11 and has a body portion 17 of some distinctively colored transparent or translucent material, such as red glass, or celluloid, or'the like.

It is preferred to make the vane as light as possible so that it may be moved with a minimum expenditure of energy. At the:-

lower part of the vane there is mounted a bar armature 18, to swing with the vane about the common pivotal center 11. Immediately behind thearmature we preferably arrange four electro-magnets 20 in square formation, the diagonally opposite magnets being connected in circuits by suitable wires 21, and each of the circuits being grounded at 22 to the casing of the device. Wires 23 leadfrom binding posts 24 to the respective pair of magnets, so that either pair may be energized independently of the other. Upon the energization'of either pair of magnets, the armature 18 is attracted to those magnets and the vane 16 is thrown to one of its two positions immediately behind the windows 12. Supply of current to either of the magnet circuits may be effected in any suitable manner, the circuit being controlled by suitable switches, push buttons, or the like, 1n easy access to the automobile driver.

In the rear wall of the casing 10 we may also cut right and left designations as shown at 30; and the transparent or translucent body 17 of the vane 16 may also pass behind these designations, so that they are shown in the color of the transparency when the vane is moved to either one side or the other. Atone side of the casing 10 we may provide a number holder 31 for holding the number plate 32; and a window 33 will allow light from the lamp 15 to fall upon the number plate to illuminate it. We may ,out as clearly as'possible.

.pesitions of the white and red mafy 4Q bereadily seen; it is a feature 0 Ihe vane 15 is held in its normal medial osition by any suitable means, preferably y. a pair of light springs 36. When the lamp 15 is'in operation, the normal appearance of the indicator shows a central red light and two sector shaped white lights one at each side of the central red tail li ht. When an indication is made in either 0 the two directions, one or the otherof the white side lights becomes red; change from white to red is so distinctive: as to instantly attract attention to indicate the intended movement of the vehicle carrying the indicator. The inside of the casing 10 may be painted or otherwise coated white so as to make the lighting as efficient as possible, and so as to make the two normal white lights through the windows 12 stand The arrangement of having the two white lights showing ormally and of changing one or the other to red is not only vei v eiiicient because it is distinctive and attracts attention, but also because the indication of the signal may be made out to a great distance. The relative always our invention' that the indications are seen and recognized by recognizance "of the relative positions of two distinctively colored lights, rather than by the relative position of either one or the other upon the automobile.

We do not limit ourselves to the specific details shown and described, reserving the right to vary those details to meet individual circumstances. In addition to the features herein set forth, we wish to emphasquare? formation about size the simplicityand neatness of our device, its small number of moving parts and its consequent freedom from becoming inoperative.

' Having described our invention,we claim:

1. an automobile signal or the like, a casing having a pair of sector shaped uncolored windows arranged radially about a common center spaced apart at right and left respectively,a source of illumination in the casing, a distinctively colored transparent vane pivoted at said center immediately behind the windows and in front of said source, means to normally hold the vane in medial position between the spaced windows and means to move the vanef to position behind either window, said means including an armature mounted upon the vane and electro-magnets to attract said armature in either of two opposite directions, substantially as described.

nan automobile signal or the like, a

-' 'ha ving'afpair of sector shaped uncolored windows arranged radially about a common center spaced apart at right and left respectively, a source of illumination in the casing, a distinctively colored :transparent vane pivoted at said center immediately behind the windows and in front of said source, means to normally hold the vane in medial position between the two spaced windows, and means to move the vane to position behind either window, said means including an armature mounted upon the vane to swing about said center, and two pairs of electro-magnets arranged in said center, diagonally opposite magnets being connected together in circuit, substantially as described.

In witness that we claim the foregoing We have hereunto subscribed our names this 7th day of August, 1914.

' WALDEMAR. A. FALCK.

FRITZ W.

Witnesses:

J AMES T. BARnnrnw, Enwoon H. Bennnnnw. 

